Family in town

JR came into town for work a couple of weeks in a row. One night we had him over for takeout and invited M & A to come over with Ryan. It was a fun night...


(Ron looks like the Hulk breaking out of the floor...)


JR catching some baby time with Connor.


Aaron and family are happy! on the couch! (Rare footage of Ryan smiling in a picture :).


I love this picture of Adrianne. She looks like she's in purry land...

Diane flew to CA for spring break to spend some time with her new boyfriend. She seems to favor the long-distance relationships... We flew Joe to Portland to help us with the property, and they ended up on the same flight -- there and back! Since Diane had a 2 hour layover, we had lunch at the airport. It was so nice of her to go through security twice for us!! :) Thanks Diane! It was good to see you! And Thanks to Joe for coming out and helping Ron. He needs all the help he can get!






Paul came in about 10 minutes after Diane had boarded her plane. Too bad they missed each other. We flew Paul out to help Ron also. From what I hear, they're getting alot done!

After I picked up Paul and Joe, we went to see the Tram in downtown portland. It's a cable car that goes from the waterfront up to the OHSU hospital on the hill. It's a great scenic view and a fun ~5 minute ride up and another 5 down. (or vice versa). At the top, there's this fun little veranda that you can see everything from. Well, everything that isn't covered by clouds. Imagine on a clear day... It was still a great view!








After the little tour downtown, we went to Costco to buy some food for the week. We take Connor's friends into the store with us to keep him occupied. It's funny because he's not much bigger than they are!


I made three mistakes: 1) I didn't stop by the house to drop off luggage/stroller first, 2) I decided to stock up on coupon items since I wasn't sure if I'd be back that week (diapers and wipes are on coupon!! you have to stock up while you can!), and 3) I bought way too much food. I'm not a Costco Rookie, so this shouldn't have happened... but it did. As we were checking out, Joe assured me "It'll fit, no problem". I wasn't so sure, so I surveyed the situation, trying to visualize the room in the back seat and in the way back of the truck. I determined I could do it. After we paid and got out to the car, I opened the back and heard this from Joe: "S***! It won't fit!" (He made a little rhyme :). "I can do it" I said. So I set to work stacking and piling and puzzling things together. All the while, Paul is volunteering to stay at Costco with the loot while I dropped stuff off and came back. "No, No, I can do it!" We even tried calling Ron, but he couldn't get off early -- even though he was going to try. 1/2 hour later, this is what we ended up with. It fit!! :) I ROCK.





I told Joe he could put the paper towels on top of the box in the middle, but he insisted it was more comfy on his lap.


Paul didn' thave it too bad... we could have fit more! :)


Paul went to church with us on Sunday. Joe decided to stay home. He's actually snapping the shot of us together, but I think he was still asleep.... :)




We have more family coming in a couple of weeks, so I'll keep posting pics. Check back later!

Around the house

There's terrible back lighting in this picture, but I love it anyway! I find that not only do they share the same expressions (since day 1 in the hospital), but they also are often found in clothes of the same color scheme -- must be subliminal. :) What a handsome pair! (Feb 28)


After snapping the photo above, I turned around to find Adrianne wearing Connor's shoes... those are some big ones to fill, girly!




One morning I had gotten up early to get Connor's bottles ready for baby school (I had early morning meetings). Ron grabbed him when he woke up and fed/changed him. He headed off to work and asked me where I wanted him.
Me: "Put him in the hall with his rockin' rollin' ball. That should keep him busy".
Ron: "I'll put him here in the kitchen with you."
Me: "So he can get into the cat food like every other toddler?"
Ron: "He'll be fine, I put him in the middle of the kitchen."
Me: "OK...."
I went down the hall for literally 5 seconds to get his diapers for the day, and what did I hear? "SSSSCCCRRRAAAAPPPEEE!!!"
I run back in to find quite the scene. He had saved mobilization time by moving the tray to him. (he's been doing alot of that lately). Luckily he hadn't gotten too far (Like throwing it in the water -- which is next). And instead of picking him up and saying "no-no", I grab the camera! What kind of message am I sending? :) Yes, you can still see the rockin' rollin' ball in the background. Not nearly as fun as cat food! (Mar 05)


I get most of Connor's toys from consignment sales or yard sales. I love that I can recycle things and not have them all sent to landfills! Plus, it's nice to pay less for things, and consequently get more!


The latest sale, I found this really cool rocking orca. He loves it already! Look at the balance on him! (March 12-13)






This is a fun little car that we were playing with and he actually stayed on! He's not propelling it forward yet, but he did like leaning over and flicking the little toys. All without falling off! (Mar 14)

Connor's first whimper

Connor had somehow found a long, skinny screwdriver to play with while on his belly. And, it was headed right for the mouth, pointy side in. When I took it out of his hands (rather hastily), he tucked his head in his arms and made a whimper noise. "What?!?" I laughed at him. he then moved on to the wooden hammer on the floor (which is his toy). I then realized why he was so sad -- it took him alot of work to get that out of dad's toolbag that was on the floor. Oh, well. Pretty cute! :)

Roxanne's Birthday

I have to admit, I can't take credit for any of the party planning, but I did get off work early to show up. :) My good friend Roxanne Workman turned 50 this year (am I allowed to say?). Her roommate threw her a huge surprise party at the church. It was nice to share the day with her, Happy Birthday Roxanne!

It was a surprise party, so her roommate, Marci, blindfolded her, drove her around for a while, then, brought her into the multi-purpose room to pull off the blindfold. Her face reminds me of Connor's when I go in to get him from his crib in the morning... So happy! :)




this is what she saw when the blindfold was pulled off!


And, here is Dave, Marci's boyfriend. (also works with Ron -- he must have taken the day off).


I had Connor in a far corner with a blanket and some toys, out of harm's way. But for some reason, everyone thought they needed to "save him" even though he wasn't making any noise... He's very good at entertaining himself.

Connor with Deidre Opager (from the ward)


I'm not sure who this woman is, but she looked grandmother-ly, so I didn't mind. I'm sure she's from Roxanne's new ward (Oak Hills).


And, Connor with Roxanne. :)


Time for presents. Doesn't she look young for 50? Maybe it's just the look on her face... :)


Some fun shoot-em-up toys from Kim Oliver. That'll keep you young!


She was crowned princess for a day and given a whole bunch of funny over-the-hill presents from John Wright. (The crazy cane actually comes in useful later...)


Here she is in front of the present table.


Somehow her balloon escaped to the ceiling of the MPR. There must be a balloon monster up there because ALL balloons go there eventually! I tried to save it, but alas I wasn't quite tall enough.


This industrious man (sorry, don't know the name) went and found a ladder in the custodial closet and used the crazy cane to rescue the balloon. *shwew*


Birthday girl is happy again. :)


Some random people:








We love you Roxanne!

I think Kitty has made up his mind

Ron is the ultimate cat whisperer.


Of course, we had closed the other two cats in our room upstairs so Kitty could come out....


Now that he feels loved, maybe he'll socialize with the other two. ?

Communicating with Connor

It's amazing how a little tiny baby can get his point across, even without formal communication. Like, yesterday he let me know LOUD AND CLEAR that he did not enjoy being in the carseat for 4+ hours getting to Seattle, and then again for 3 hours coming back. (I went to Wendel's house first, thinking they had already left the hospital... bad me!) It was interesting that when I turned off the radio and sang to him, it seemed to help soothe him, at least temporarily. He's taking notice! He finally cried himself to sleep (poor guy!). Then, when we got home last night and I changed him into his pj's, he woke up and found he was NOT in the carseat. He just giggled. He gave me a very appreciative look and smiled at me with his little "squinchy" smile. I call it squinchy because he squints his eyes and gives me a less-curvy smile, kind of like a straight line. He usually follows the face with a "hee, hee" sound. If I can capture it on camera, I'll post it here. :)

And, today when I went to visit him at lunch, we had a grand time rocking and playing with various toys. (Although lately I get the feeling that he doesn't mind if I don't come at lunch. More time to play with friends!). At the end of the hour, I put him on the floor to play, and he crawled a little bit then started whining. I knew he hadn't had a decent nap yet, so I went over to put him in his crib. He got super-excited, and then when I brought the blanket out from his drawer, he grabbed it and cuddled it and started whacking the mattress with his feet (thud, thud, thud -- his way of putting himself to sleep). He just smiled at me and hugged his blanket. I gave him a paci and he took it (which he doesn't do very often, mostly when he's tired). So, I guess he was tired!

At church on Sunday, he was sitting on the floor in front of me in Sunday School, and decided to play with the plastic cap from his playtex dropins bottle. (I like to use disposable bottles when I'm out. So much eaiser! and he takes any nipple now, so it works). He was pounding it against the wood floor of the multi-purpose room, like a hammer (which makes me think he's ready for the hammer set my mom gave him for Christmas, we'll have to try it). All the other toys around him and he wants to bang this thing. Ok with me :). There was another little boy sitting just a few chair-floors away that was a few months older than him that wanted to come play. As he scooted closer Connor took notice, and slowly grabbed his toy and tucked it under his arm, close to his chest. So funny! I can tell you exactly where he learned that move -- there's a little toy-bully at baby school that likes to steal toys just to steal them. Connor is learning to defend his ground by "hiding" the toy, or putting it out of reach. He's also getting pretty good at stealing them back now that he's scooting around. Of course, this little boy didn't want his toy, he just wanted to meet the other baby. :)

When Connor is in a talkative mood, he will start telling me or Ron a story. The story usually doesn't have many consonants in them, but they are very animated. His voice inflections go up and down and he makes arm movements to explain it better. And if you're not paying attention, he will whack whatever part of you he can reach to get your attention. Sometimes he'll do that even if you ARE paying attention. :)

Sometimes, if I am feeding him a new taste that he doesn't like, he'll communicate by clamping his mouth closed and turning his head sideways. It's pretty funny, because I'll try and push it in there, but he has a strong jaw! I'll try making him laugh and he won't budge. He just looks at me with his mouth shut as if to say "just try it!"

Saturday, I was wrapping a birthday present for a friend of his who turned 1. He saw the present and wanted it! at least, he wanted the big box with bright colors. So, he made a v-line and army-crawled/knee-launched his way over to the box. He was so excited about it that he was grunting, trying to get there faster. He got across the room and started to grab the box, like he was going to pick it up. This was a huge box that was housing the Tonka Scoot 'N' Scoop ride-along toy. He'd have to have the strength of the Incredible Hulk for that, but it was fun to watch him try. I showed him the revvin' beepin' wheel, but he was more interested in the box. I thought it was so cute that I grabbed the video camera and put him back across the room. He didn't come over quite as quickly the second time, but I still captured it. I'll post it here if I can upload it.

TBD Schultz

Yesterday was a LONG trip, especially for Connor! But he was such a trooper and it was so neat to meet his new cousin! (Name still TBD -- Wendel & Ashley think they have one in mind, but wouldn't tell me what it was yet. That's OK, they didn't tell her mom either! She was there, but I didn't get any pictures with here, dangit!) But, look at what a cutie he is!!! Since Wendel already posted a pic on his Facebook stream, I feel OK posting these. Although, the one of Wendel and Ashley leaving the hospital needs to be approved first.... So you'll have to check back later about that one.

Here's me with the little guy. He is SO small! I felt like I was holding a marshmallow! So precious!!! His fingers and toes are so long! I saw them when Wendel changed him out of his onesie. and he has the cutest little lips and the softest little skin! So, so cute! I'm sure W&A will have MUCH better pictures when they settle in and break out their camera. This one is just a teaser.


Ashley needed to change and get packed up, so Connor and I went and found the waiting room down the hall. Wendel and Ashley had been moved to "pediatrics" since the maternity unit was super-full of new moms-to-be, and they had rooms all set up as an "overflow". I get the feeling it happens alot.... It seemed like a busy hospital. So, the waiting room we found had a bunch of kids' stuff in it, including a wagon that Connor had a good time in. It was, indeed, his first wagon ride. I think his favorite part about it, though, was sucking on mom's purse straps (Must be the soft leather texture that he liked). NOTICE, that I did buy a new purse, after the Christmas traveling fiasco. (i.e. Connor was sick on all of the plane rides and threw up in my purse, among other places). And it was ZIPPED up as it sat next to him, for obvious reasons. Is it me, or does the wagon look HUGE with Connor in it? :)





As indicated above, the last picture will be posted at a future date, when the proofs can be reviewed. :)

(Adding these after the fact. Ashley and Wendel don't *love* them, but it's all we have....) They are such a beautiful family!